Russian-US arms reduction talks to be unaffected by change of plans on ABM

“Of course the renunciation of certain elements of the system is welcome news, and yet the U.S. is not renouncing the system as such,” Nikonov said

Share

1 pages in this article

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, March 17 (Itar-Tass) – Changes in U.S. plans for creating the antiballistic missile system and, more specifically, the decision to renounce the fourth phase of deployment of the ABM elements in Europe will not affect the Russian-U.S. nuclear arms reduction talks in any major way, MP Vyacheslav Nikonov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma’s foreign policy committee said Sunday.

“When it comes to such things, the devil always lurks in details,” he said adding that “we don’t know all the details right now.

“Of course the renunciation of certain elements of the system is welcome news, and yet the U.S. is not renouncing the system as such,” Nikonov said.

On the whole, he described Washington’s decision as a “general reflection of U.S. approaches to the current international situation and the shifting of accents in America’s dense and political planning to the Asia-Pacific region.”

“Quite naturally, it’s mostly China and not at all the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that poses the biggest problem for the Americans there,” he said. “A strengthening of the ABM grouping in the wake of a possible repelling of missile threats, which may arise in Asia and the Pacific, implies a definite reconfiguring of the ABM system.”

“Still, this may be related to Russia as well, since Alaska is located a mere 80 kilometers away from the Russian territory – not farther in any way than Poland or Romania, for instance,” Nikonov said.

“I think this will affect the arms reduction talks in a minimal way,” he said. “On the whole, the U.S. is not renouncing the Star Wars program. The Americans continue developing them and doing it at a fast enough rate.”